While Indonesian gado gado is traditionally served with fried tofu or tempeh, my version throws in some chicken skewers for a satay-esque spin. Serve it family style so everyone can help themselves to a truly celebratory salad. Oh, and if there’s any left, you can keep the leftover sauce in the fridge for up to a week – it’s just as yum served with grilled meat or seafood, or tossed through noodles.
4 baby potatoes, cut into wedges
1 tsp vegetable oil
¼ tsp sea salt
200g (7 oz) green beans, trimmed
4 eggs, soft boiled, peeled, halved
2 cups finely shredded red cabbage
2 cups baby spinach
1 cup bean shoots
1 cucumber, sliced
Chicken skewers
750g (10.5 oz) chicken thigh fillets, cut into small chunks
1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp white pepper
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Peanut sauce
2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
¼ cup (2 fl oz) coconut milk
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 tbsp finely shaved palm sugar (or white sugar)
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Place the potatoes onto a lined baking tray, then drizzle with the oil and season with salt. Roast for 45 minutes until soft and deep golden brown. Set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, to make the chicken skewers, place all ingredients In a medium-sized mixing bowl and mix well until meat is evenly coated. Thread chicken pieces onto soaked bamboo skewers, then transfer to a clean plate to marinate for 10 minutes while you make the sauce.
- For the peanut sauce, place all of the ingredients in the bowl of a small food processor and blitz until very smooth. Place into a separate bowl or pouring jug and set aside.
- Add the beans to a large saucepan of boiling water and cook for 2 minutes until tender. Use a small strainer to transfer beans to a large bowl of iced water to stop them cooking (this technique is called blanch and refresh). Once cooled down, remove from the iced water and set aside.
- Preheat a chargrill plate or cast-iron skillet on the stove top over a medium-high heat. Drizzle with a little oil and fry off chicken skewers for about 5 minutes until you see some nice colour and caramelisation. Flip the skewers and cook on the other side for a further 5 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked all the way through.
- Peel and slice the eggs in half. Arrange the chicken skewers, eggs, potato, beans, cabbage, spinach, bean shoots and cucumber on a large platter. To serve, drizzle over the peanut sauce.
